Private Lives: A True Compendium of Curious Facts, Bizarre Habits and Fascinating Anecdotes About the Lives of the Famous and Infamous Throughout History

by Mark Bryant

You may not win a spot on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? but knowing these true though obscure facts about 200 of the world's most famous figures certainly can stimulate dinner conversation. Picture the reaction when you mention that Walt Disney couldn't draw Mickey Mouse. Or, when you explain how Casanova, who seduced 10,000 women, suffered from smallpox marks all over his face; that a superstitious Hitler timed major battles for the seventh day of the month, Lincoln held séances in the White House, and Mark Twain invented and patented the first self-adhesive photo album. Illustrations are by great caricaturists such as Max Beerbohm, Ralph Steadman, and Saul Steinberg, and add just the right touch to this most unusual biographical dictionary.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History

416 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1971

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun to read. It is what my son calls a "Dip IN" book. You can read every entry or you can just dip in to read the people whose names you recognize or have an interest in. You get a concise, but fairly complete, overview of their life. From Birth and family, habits, sports, appearance, religion, politics, pets, temperament, work/Daily Routine, and Manner of Death. All in two pages. The only thing that would make it better would be a small image of the person.

[Hal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Among my favorites are biographies so this book definitely attracted my attention. Laid out in encyclopedic fashion it features a short profile on a hundred or so famous figures from history from all walks of life, most long since passed.

Bryant the author is British so there seems to be a bias toward British authors primarily. Also in the manner some are described in weight as stone, and people are called not named.

Typically biographies focus on the works and deeds of the famous. I am always curious of their habits, quirks, and customs. In this book there is a good measure of that adding the sometimes odd but altogether human characteristics that are most interesting.